Final Frontier Saga:Book One-Phoenix Rising
by PilotSparrow
Summary: An IMC medic from a backwater frontier plant finds her life thrown into disarray as war rages on both sides forcing her to choose, to save her home and serve the IMC or betray her home and join her saviors. War-takes no prisoners and shows no mercy.
1. Chapter 1-Cruel Reality

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 **Prologue  
3 years Ago-Emerallis System**

The sound of ships flying slowly above the sparsely lit district of the small remote planet in the Emerallis system would rumble the very poorly build brick and wooden houses with broken windows and trash littering the streets. The city was never really in such a bad shape until the great invasion from the IMC who leveled majority of the city leaving the rest to simply crumble to shanty towns and poor,red-light districts with Marshall Law strictly being enforced with public executions.

Callie's mother use to tell her stories how the IMC are wanting to help the frontier lands be successful and free and how the Militia are terrorists,lowly scum bags who only want their precious resources for themselves; but those stories seem to be so far fetched. Why would such a large force simply level a city on mere rumors of militia forces being within?

Callie wanted to know the truth and part of her told her the IMC was nothing but lies yet the reasoning part told her to follow the IMC so she wouldn't be executed alongside her family for doubting the IMC. As the sound of fain gunshots rang out across the night sky,Callie laid in her bed clutching her pillows tightly wanting the horror to just end. No more death-No more suffering; She would be finishing her medical and engineering classes soon to develop ways to save others and maybe try to help her city.

 _"Callie dear-pack your bags quickly of only what you need...Your father was just arrested and they'll be coming for us."_

She heard her mother's voice cut through her door that would open as Callie sprung out of her bed scrambling for any nearby clothes before the sound of specters and spotlights were shining across the street causing her to panic and skip out on the clothes before dashing after her mother through their back door.

They would enter the back alley and ran down the trash and junk filled street until the rain had finally let go and poured before the sound of thunder and lightning rang across the sky with a few gun shots zipping past them alongside hollering.

 _"Go Callie-Keep running! I won't make it but you will..go"_

 _"But mom I can't leave you! They'll kill you!"_

 _"_ _A_ _nd they'll kill you too now GO!"_

Her mother yelled as she gave Callie a good shove off a gentle hill twords the river before all Callie could see was spotlights on her mom as her body staggered and flailed as bullets rained down on her body. Feeling her body slam and tumble down the hill with her head whacking a rock or two before feeling the cold river suck her down into its bone chilling grasps. It was at that moment Callie's life seemed to be over as she laid there half floating away while partially unconscious; IMC forces rushing to her body and dragging her out yelling words about get a medic or something before everything went black.  
 **  
** **Chapter one  
2208-Spring  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

A high ranking IMC officer would stand in front of a small crowd of fresh faced recruits who had just finished training and were to be assigned to their regiments. One by one he would call out each name of the recruits and gave them their regiment and squadron number. About an hour passed before She heard her own name called.

 _"Private Callie J. Casanova-Step forth"_

Feeling her heartbeat rapidly hammering against her chest and her blood pumping; Callie stepped forth and stood straight,as tall as she could with her shoulders squared and chin leveled to meet her superior who simply nodded.

 _"You are assigned to be one of the select few to serve under Commander SpyGlass himself. Call it a one up from being in the IMC's main force medic."_

He would finish before leaning and whispering in her ears with a hint of concern for her well-being.

 _"Just-be careful,Spyglass has a superiority complex and isn't afraid to be harsh..I wish no one would be chosen to serve under him. Good luck and don't get killed"_

His words sent a cold,dead chill down her spine and through her nervous system alongside the others muttering on why SpyGlass chose her and not anyone else. Callie knew of the stories and rumors of his ruthlessness,no care about human lives, and how he always believed he was right and never wrong. Realizing her life wasn't gonna be easy-She had to mentally prepare herself for the harshness to come. She was in her own thoughts use to watching people die but nothing in her entire life could ever prepare her for what laid in wait for her.

Stepping back into formation,another half hour passed before all was done and dismissed to the Mess Hall where pilots usually kept to their own groups as did riflemen and grunts. Grabbing a tray with a simple salad,drink,and paying for it,Callie found herself as usual alone in a corner table eating by herself as she had her data pad on the table studying over her medic and Engineering notes while making edits to her coding formulas.

She had grown use to the whispers,the stares,and the jokes thrown at her for being from the Emerallis system which was known for their odd accents and way of speaking such as the hard "R"s and the in-correct usage of you guys (Ya'll). So what if she didn't fit their views, She was smarter them all but she also believed she was unlucky to be chosen. Having gotten so use to drowning out the voices,Callie didn't hear the footsteps behind her until a hand placed itself on her shoulder making her jump and almost fall out her chair if the pilot didn't catch her first like he did and helped her back up before sitting down next to her.

He wore the same pilot jumpsuit with the IMC armor over it; with the bright blue hues of it contrasting against his sharp features and tousled jet black hair with vivid green eyes. She couldn't recall his name but recognized his outfit from when she was doing her final test and he was there to help judge her skills.

 _"WHOAH! Calm down-I didn't mean to scare you..I just wanted to ask if you want to join me and my buddies over at our table. You're always sitting alone and rumor has it You're gonna be part of Spyglass's forces! I envy you ya know. Supposedly his titans are superior to even the ones we have!"_

The male pilot exclaimed as Callie sighed unsure what to say before an alarm went off and a voice echoed from the speakers placed around the mess hall.  
 _  
"Calling all Pilots! SpyGlass's fleet has entered the airspace! All Pilots and key personnel report to Main Hangar!"_

The many pilots in the mess hall would finish their food quickly and left hastily to get to the hangar as Callie threw away her half eaten salad and left with the male pilot following her

 _"Envy me huh-I don't think there's much to be envious about...specifically where I'm going"_

Callie muttered softly mostly to herself as they entered the hangar being extremely large;holding four drop ships themselves with rooms for titans to move about. It wasn't long until a white and gray drop ship would land on the outside platform before its side hatch opened and the tallest Simulacrum Callie had ever seen stepped out wearing the most typical military general uniform as its face had a red glowing light. On each side he was followed by two heavily armed and armored specters with Spitfires.

Every pilot and personnel would salute and stand attention as the IMC's commander stood present for SpyGlass to enter and stand beside him before gazing slowly over each person present and made a sound like he was clearing his throat despite not having one. His voice was strong and rather more human like then Callie expected,the silkiness and clarity of it almost made him sound like a true,kind general.

 _"Aides and gents...Pilots and simulacrums...I thank you for your wonderful salutes and attention. I won't be here long as I have a long trip to make twords the inner frontiers but I believe there were five people I had personally selected to join me should be here? If so do step forth."_

Callie wanted to stay put and hide but She knew couldn't as he would easily point her out. Knowing his words were nothing but a mask to make himself look like some hero; She would put a stoic face on and strided forward until she stood beside the other chosen few as the nearly six foot five Simulacrum would step forth inspecting them until he came to Callie.

Leaning down and cocking his head to the left as if thinking before she felt his cold,metallic fingers grab her jawline and gently titled her head side to side as if studying her. For a simulacrum,she expected his grip to be stronger then a humans but, he wasn't being gentle with her clearly as he let go with a well closest thing a robot could make to a snort.

 _"Most of you look like chumps except you woman-There's something about you that stands out most brightly..Like one star shinning brighter then the others"_

His words ranged loudly as the others seemed a bit hurt by his bluntness yet SpyGlass would lean close to Callie's ear and whispered the words she wish she would never here.

 _"And I'd love to find out what it it-that makes you tick,makes your blood run cold,and how much it takes to break you bit-by-bit"_

Leaning away from her stoic face that by now she was forcing herself to keep as inside she was scared; not for everyone but for herself. She didn't want to be his personal plaything,his little marionette doll to toy around with. SpyGlass would raise a hand as he turned to leave for the five to follow him onto the ship before it took off.

Glancing back out the window,Callie knew this was the last time she would see any of them.  
Feeling a cold hand grip her shoulder and turning her around,she found herself face to face with SpyGlass with no one else in the hull as he spoke more-gently this time.

 _"not being able to say goodbye to friends is tough but in this world,Friends will only drag you down as dead weight and prevent you from reaching your fullest potential. Come-let me show you where You'll be working and sleeping"  
_  
Callie at first was unsure but followed him anyways learning each corridor,every nook and cranny in case shit went haywire and she wanted to hide from him. what felt like a long walk was really only ten minutes as they entered what appeared to be the closest thing to a medical bay with broken specter parts laying in piles,hanging on racks,and blank data cores lying around. To the normal eye this looked like a junk yard but to an engineer it was basically heaven. Callie let out a gasp of excitement,which she didn't expect to come out as SpyGlass seemed-pleased with her reaction.

 _"I figured you would like it. Your career field is quite-interesting and those fields can mingle with the right mind...You're free to experiment as you please when I don't need more specters. There are other engineers here but they will be under your command as you are being promoted to the Engineering Commander...Enjoy your time here"_

SpyGlass explained before leaving her to her own devices. Glancing back as the door closed,Callie would take a deep breath to steady herself as she strided around the room inspecting everything as she talked to the few human engineers and MRVN Units learning their names and roles. Maybe she was wrong-but the part of her called reasoning told her this wasn't gonna be normal. Taking a clipboard and seeing what needed to be done, she would start to issue orders.

 _"Alex-Cliff-Unit 6433! Double time on the specters. and Ticks. Units 2121,9897,and Nergel! Get those Data Cores ready and put their chassis together. All other MRVN units-Double time on those Reapers! We need this done NOW NOW NOW!"_

Her words echoed clearly as they responded with seriousness and busily went to work to meet the order and exceed it as much as they can with her helping every now and then to push it along until a few days later, the demands would become so outrageous that Callie would find her men being beaten and MRVN units shut down. The amount of stress this brought onto Callie had caused her to slowly become less caring with her lack of sleep and constant harassment. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 **Three Weeks Later  
** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The large ship and its fleet had entered the air space of a small colony planet called Mercellis; which held one of the largest Specter factories and was currently in the midst of a full scale war on the border between the Militia and the IMC with the Remnant Fleet to come in as reinforcements. While they would need to ensure a safe air space,the fleet would wait a good ways away and send a ground force first to help clear a path.

" _All forces report to their pods for drop! Repeat-All forces report to their pods for drop!"_

The robotic voice echoed across the ship as pods one by one filled with specters and reapers to be dropped onto Mercilles while Callie and the other four were brought forth into a pod against their wills and sent to the ground to quote on quote Spyglasses's words; To support the IMC when in reality Callie knew he was sending them to die not needing their worthless bodies anymore.

The pod would rumble and shake violently as they entered the atmosphere before a loud boom of its outer casing came free allowing the pod to land in the field and open with the four rushing out yelling only to find themselves face to face with a militia legion who just mowed them down without a second thought. Callie stayed in the pod and watched as they just were simply gunned down; echoed by the sounds of yelling,gun shots,metal on metal from titans..The sounds rumbled through her body as she stepped out glancing both ways before rushing into the lush flora hiding amongst it in her simple olive drab outfit with a band on her forearms with a red cross showing she is a medic alongside her medic rucksack.

Poking her head from the bushes,she watched as two IMC tones and a IMC Ion would come charging forth to be met head on by a Blue militia Ronin and a Green Militia Ion who didn't back down from the challenge. She found her breath getting caught in her throat witnessing the raw power of pilots and titans fighting each other. Each ear deafening boom and metallic clang of their fists meeting the chassis was beautiful yet terrifying. Glancing over as she saw a IMC Pilot without a titan sprinting across the grounds gunning down grunts and rifleman easily before all she saw was the pilot's body go flying to the side as a small explosion hit near him.

Managing to find her breath,she went to rush to him as his voice called out faintly for help only to make a few meters across before an explosion went off near her sending her rag dolling across the mud as rain begun falling softly then heavily. Rolling onto her hands and knees,she could feel everything slow down as all Callie saw was militia and IMC soldiers left and right just gun each other down as bodies landed in the mud,arms and legs flying across the field with bodies laying upon bodies. Her breathing would become ragged and quick as panic,fear,and adrenaline was rushing all through her while trying to move her body but it felt sluggish and weighed down. Her eyes scanning over as the horrible visions and reality of war-Women and men tearing each other apart,titans exploding with their charred chassis falling over,burnt flesh and agonizing screams filled the air.

Nearing halfway to the pilot her stomach just dropped as a titan just seemingly stepped on the upper half of the pilot causing mud,blood,gore,and the lower half of his body went flying a few feet. The sight was the last straw as she found herself vomiting over her self and the ground before letting out a terrified,dried sob with no tears just pure terror. The sound of war was around her yet no one tried to shoot here since she was a medic and didn't even carry a weapon.

In her moments of utter terror and panic,she would hear a voice calling to her as her terrified,shocked,mud and blood covered face would stare at a militia pilot raising an arm at her as if begging her. Any IMC soldier would've killed or let the pilot die but Callie finally seeing the horror decided to play her role as she could-Help others. Finding some sort of strength,she launched herself across the field heading twords the militia pilot while stumbling in the mud every now and then as bullets whizzed by her and explosions danced around.

Sliding twords the pilot,she would find herself staring at the pilot's face clearly visible from behind his broken visor that He was around his late twenties and had a nice,groomed,short beard. Scanning his body for the wound,she found a few bullets wounds and quickly ripped her medic pack off to scavenge bandages and swiftly went to work cleaning the wounds and cutting away at his pilot jumpsuit to clear the wound area before wrapping his abdomen a few times and tied the bandages off. Callie would place a hand against his neck after helping him take the helmet off to make sure his pulse was okay but his face went from shocked to blank as Callie felt the cold barrel pressed against the back of her head and a voice she knew better then most. 


	2. Chapter 2-To Catch Dying Embers

_"Well well well-I wasn't expecting of all people,that you would break the IMC code of conduct to help an enemy pilot. I know you quite well and what you're capable of-but this? Treason never seemed to something on your mind yet-here you are helping the enemy."_

The voice was the same pilot she talked to back in the mess hall and it made her blood run cold. She should've expected him to be on the ground but-not this close to her.

 _"S-so what! I'm not a soldier...I'm-I'm a medic. We don't follow the same rules as pilots and grunts."_

The pilot would knee and grabbed Callie by the back of neck with a strong grip making her gasp in pain as he slammed the barrel into the back of her head while spatting out the words in utter disgust and anger at her. It was a cruel sight for the militia pilot watching a poor medic girl being treated like a dog.

" _Still! Treason is treason-and I'll be damned if I let a traitor run free...now I'll give you a choice Callie-Kill this pilot and prove your loyalty...or die as a militia dog! ITS YOUR CHOICE BITCH!"_

He screamed the last part in her ear making her cry,and shake. She couldn't kill the man,she didn't have the heart to do it even as the cold barrel was pressed harder against the back of her head. Within those few precious seconds of her choice,a loud bang rung across her ears as she felt the barrel fall away from her with a thud; realizing the Militia Pilot shot the male to protect her.

 _"I-couldn't stand by and let him treat you like some-servant...You saved my life-So it was only right to save yours...Come! The militia-will take you in happily...You deserve a family that will-treat you as family."_

He whispered as Callie found herself falling onto her ass in the mud staring at him, then the ground, then the distance as if she didn't know what to say; until the sound of titan footsteps were getting louder as she snapped out of her trance and told the pilot to run who scrambled twords a group of militia grunts trying to escort him away.

She was about to stand up before she felt a titans hand grab her causing her to scream in fear as she held in front of the Ion's chassis where its IMC pilot spoke to her.

" _So you're the rat who killed Frank-Tis a shame such a cute face and hot body has to be put to waste...But ya know,a traitor doesn't deserve a quick death...so lets play a game. Confess you're a traitor and I wont rip you limb from limb...if you refuse,you'll lose a limb like this."_

He snarled as the titan's other hand came up and grabbed Callie's lower right leg before easily snapping like a twig as she screamed in agony,tears running down her muddy and bloodied stained face as she begged him to quit the entire time. The Militia pilot stopped to watch her being broken bit by bit in horror and disgust.

" _ARE YOU A TRAITOR!?"_

 _"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!"_

Callie shouted in defiance as the titan would grab her left leg and like butter,it tore her left leg off her body; causing her to scream again and vomit from the sheer sudden shock her body went into as blood gushed from the wound all over the titan's chassis. As the Pilot laughed, he moved the titan's hand to her left arm and grabbed it tightly before asking her one last time.

" _ARE-YOU-A-TRAITOR? DO YOU SUPPORT THE MILITIA?"_

Callie could feel anger and hatred swell up in her despite her body and mind going numb while blurting as much hatred as she could at the male. __

 _"FUCK THE IMC! FUCK SPYGLASS! FUCK YOU! FUCK ARES! I RATHER DIE SAVING A LIFE THEN TAKING ONE AND LAUGHING LIKE A LUNATIC!"_

She regretted those words that flew out her mouth as her left arm met the same fate as her left leg being ripped completely off yet she didn't scream this time-she was numb,broken,her mind was elsewhere as the titan flung her body twords the militia forces retreating before returning back to the factory. The rain was falling steadily as Callie's mangled body rag dolled across the mud,sending globs of it and blood flying while she laid there in the mud as her eyes watched the dark gray clouds whirl by.

Everything was slow motion and voices watery except the sound of the rain splatting against the mud and running down her face; The militia pilot she saved went rushing to her with her medic pack as he tossed it down and fell into the mud by her side. Digging out a medical cocktail, he injected it where her limbs were torn off to stop the bleeding temporarily then he wrapped her in a simple blanket he stole from the medics before he scooped her mangled body up in it tightly and carried her onto the drop ship before it warped out the colony planet and back to the system nearby they were stationed at.

 **To Catch Dying Embers**

"Alden _! What the fuck happened to her? Why is there an IMC pilot here?"_

 _"She saved my life! I saved hers once then she gave herself to the IMC who tore her apart! I couldn't let her lay there and die! I owe her my life!"_

 _"Theres no way she'll survive! Not with wounds like that!"_

 _"How do you know? You aren't a doctor! If she can be saved even if crippled,She deserves a chance to fucking life!"_

 _"Enough! We'll speak on this matter later! Report to Field Marshall for further orders!"_

 _"Yes ma'am!"_

The male militia pilot named Alden would be arguing with his superior from what Callie could barely make out in the watery noise. Her eyes felt heavy,like lead was weighing them down,her body felt empty and numb like a husk. She didn't know where she was or what was going on but her mind screamed fight,survive,wiling her to keep those dying embers burning no matter how cold it got. Their small sparks dancing across the darkness,A fire once burning bright-now faded over time to simply embers and ashes. She knew she had to hold on,to keep it burning and see her dream come true.

Two week and a half weeks would pass since the Flag Drop ship Leviathan would land on Harmony at the Militia's main base where Callie's mangled body was covered up to her head wa carried away to the infirmary for proper,sever trauma care in attempts to save her life.

At first her sense of hearing came back with the soft,beeping sound of a heart monitor-then voices along with her sense of smell and taste of iron in her mouth and-sterilization chemicals filled the air causing her to realize she was in an infirmary. Her sight would come back as her eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the lighting of the room.

The walls were simple white painted metal and her bed was a makeshift one of an old spring boxpsring modified with railings to act as a bed for patients. She would try to move her arms realizing only her right arm would move and nothing on her left.

Callie then tried her legs only to find her left in a cast and propped up while her right leg was completely missing just as her left arm was causing her panic and and shoot upright before feeling her reflexes kick in and attempted to vomit yet nothing came out except a painful feeling in her empty stomach. Gods be damned she felt like shit,hungry,thirsty,confused,angry,scared- So many emotions and thoughts were rushing through her head as a doctor rushed over to calm her down and slowly explain everything that happened.

" _Whoah! Calm down Callie-We aren't gonna hurt you. You're lucky you lived honestly..with how much blood you lost and seizures you went through. You're gonna be stuck here for another few weeks until we say you're stable to leave."_

A doctor explained as he laid a hand on her shoulder and helped her lay back down while propping her up to a 45 degree angle for more comfort. Her eyes would simply wander about as she took in his information and tried to remember what happened yet her mind felt foggy.

" _How? I can't recall anything...Except rain and-and people dying."_

 _"We've diagnosed you with short term amnesia and hoping it'll pass eventually..Until then I'd wager you wouldn't want to remember…"_

 _"I-see..Can i get food? I haven't ate since-since I don't know…"_

Callie placed a hand to her forehead feeling like shit as the doctor sighed when Alden walked in wearing casual civilian clothing such as militia woodland cargo pants tucked into boots and a simple t-shirt. He was far more handsomer and built then she thought.

"She's alive then doctor? Good to hear. I kinda overheard her asking for food so mind if i take her to get some..some fresh air may do her good too."

"Fine-You can take her Alden but only for two hours most before she has to come back here got it."

"Roger that Doctor!"

The doctor would write a pass and allowed a female nurse to help Callie get redressed in her new militia civilian clothes that had the leg and arm of her left side tied off for easy before helping her into a wheelchair that Alden would take after waiting outside the infirmary.

As he pushed her through the large hangar,she gazed at the many rifleman,grunts,and few pilots and titans wandering about. Recalling back to the stories her mother use to tell her; Callie realized her mother was wrong and these people were more kind then the IMC. A few waved at her while others gave her a salute or two as if she was a veteran.

" _Why is everyone so nice to me? Wasn't I there enemy?"_

 _"You're a medic, the Militia sees medics differently then IMC soldiers. You risked your life to save me and they saw it as a heroic action. To put it plainly, they see you as a damn good example of how a soldier or any one should act when saving anothers life."_

Callie would feel her face warm up from the praises and saluted back before they passed a large awning to a makeshift mess hall in what was probably an old factory at one point. Alden would push her through the line as they grabbed their food and paid for it before Alden pushed out through the mess hall side doors to an outdoor area with tables to sit at.

Parking her wheelchair near a table and sitting down; He would smile at her while she quickly dug in not really tasting the food considering its been weeks since she last ate.

" _Slow down there speedy-This isn't your last meal ya know."_

 _"How do you know? I could die in my sleep for all we know."_

Alden would chuckle warmly as Callie slowed down to actually taste the food and realized it was better then what the IMC fed them. Alden would raise his drink and took a sip while speaking.

" _Don't be a negative nancy now Callie. Besides your field of expertise has kinda stricken a gold mine with the engineers. You've heard of simulacrums?"_

Callie would take another bite as she thought back to the IMC days before nodding.

" _I recall a few in the IMC-not common. Go on? I'm assuming they're wanting to use me as a guinea pig for something?"_

 _"well yes and no. Yes to being a guinea pig but no to being forced...With your conditioned,our current prosthetic aren't the best and wanted something more-natural like. So They've come up with a beta phase exo skeleton that would be implanted into the persons body connecting their nervous system ad brain to their prosthetic allowing them to move more like a human would rather then an amputee."_

Alden explained as he left out the part of them wanting to eventually create fake skin to put over the prosthetic so people could normally bathe without worry of rusting and to not creep out Callie.

" _It sounds rather nice. Though I'm sure its better to test it on someone who has a more problematic issue, i can deal with missing an arm at most and a basic prosthetic leg."_

 _"If thats what you wish I'll pass word along...though I'd like to admit despite the mud and blood you had on your face back there, I figured you were always cute but not as cute as this."_

She would feel her cheeks go warm and blush from his compliment as she twirled a finger around the auburn red hair that glowed in the sunlight remembering how she cut it pretty short when joining the IMC for a small pony tail at most.

" _You're too kind Alden..I wasn't expecting to see a pilot with a manly beard and strong arms. I thought you were a scrawny pilot like a couple i knew"_

 _"ha ha very funny now. Come on-Lets get you back before the doctor gets pissy with us."_

 _"You'll visit me right?"_

 _"of Course I will, I ain't that heartless."_

They would finish their food and headed back to the infirmary to drop Callie off as Alden would make his way to the field Marshall's office where his superior also waited for him for their meeting on Callie's future.

/ **Quick update guys! So I'm really feeling this better now and honestly feels and looks more solid then what i tried before. Don't forget to comment below things that can be improved :)**


	3. Chapter 3-Fragments

Chapter 3:Fragments

Several days had passed since Callie was brought to Harmony; through living in the infirmary, going through basic rehabilitation such as strengthening her arm and fingers while measuring the length for a prosthetic leg and arm just to get her by. Alden had came to visit her like he promised, once at noon for lunch and again during the evening to play chess or teach her to play cards with a few grunts and another pilot.

She wasn't sure if to refer to herself as a prisoner of war or a militia member; it felt like she was part of them now yet felt isolated at the same time. The nightmares weren't common though the doctor did mention once the amnesia started to wear off things may get pretty bad. Callie was prepared or so she thought as it had been a week by now with her getting more stable condition wise and finally fitted to her basic prosthetic being taken from an unfinished simulacrum frame. The doctor and Alden would assist her in standing up and slowly taking small, baby steps twords the door and then out into the hangar.

A few grunts cheered and whistled at Callie who simply laughed and was smiling. Alden also had a big grin on his face as he let go of her and stepped backwards allowing her to freely walk forward showing quick progress before Alden turned her around and sent her back to the infirmary. She was happy and informed she would need to repeat the walking excersie at least twice a day for another week before He'll allow the captain to even remotely speak to her; apparently the doctor's word was superior to even his commanding officers.

" _Wow! You've made more progress then poor Glover when he got crushed by a titan..he's a simulacrum now just so you know."_

Alden exclaimed sitting down in a chair next to Callie's infirmary bed with two water bottles, tossing one to the girl before chugging his like he had traveled across an entire desert. Callie only sipped at hers but reliquished its freshness that was superior to the filtered tap IMC water.

 _"I am a medic ya know,of course I'd understand how much I can handle before needing to rest..these prosthetics are a lot nicer then the ones the IMC uses. Well only a week left before we find out if I get thrown into the civilian world or offered to join the Militia."_

Callie asked as she laid on the bed lifting her only good leg which had healed enough thanks to the advanced medical procedures and medicines of the doctor who was actually a former IMC doctor; Explains why he had access to such high end stuff.

 _"A good few grunts and a few pilots had put a good word in detailing your heroic betrayal from the IMC when you saved me. Im sure Briggs will allow you to join; we need all the hands we can get. Plus engineers have the easy gravy job of working up and close with the titans, Granted they won't rip you limb from limb."_

Alden chuckled as Callie punched him in the arm making a sour face at the thought of a titan ripping her apart. Glancing down at her prosthetics, she begun wondering If that was what happened; grand betrayal-titan ripping her limb from limb-saving him. The fog that had lingered at the back of her mind was starting to slowly clear as she recalled Alden's face more clearly. He was the pilot she saved! She remembered the two pilots who tortured her,one shot by Alden; the other broke her and left her to die. She felt tears well up as more and more of the memories were flooding back now,the fog finally lifting. The rain,the thunder and lightning crashing, the bodies missing limbs stacked and thrown about upon others, men and women crawling and yelling for mercy as their entrails laid behind them. The bombs and gun fire singing all around,the countless titans brawling and ripping each other apart.

Her hands found themselves clutching her head,screaming , sobbing, and shaking as Alden scooted back holding both hands up. Shocked and lost for words,the doctor quietly escorted him out explaining that his little talk seemed to have brought back the memories. For several minutes behind the closed door,Callie was sobbing and screaming,mentally trying to running away from it all. Why? Why did she survive? Why didn't she die like the rest of her crew? Was this Spyglasses's doing? Did he want her to suffer a fate she couldn't control. These questions bombarded her and only made things worse with her sobbing growing to the point she sounded like she was choking on her tears and struggling to breathe; prompting the doctor to finally intervene with a syringe, forcing her to finally calm down and slowly fall asleep.

Alden would poke his head in hearing that everything had quieted down and gazed at the sleeping,red faced Callie and the doctor sighing while writing on the clipboard.

 _"She's gonna be fine right doc?"_

 _"She'll be fine, I knocked her out so she'll sleep it off. Give her a day or two to somewhat come to terms with her...new life."_

The two would end their conversation there with Alden giving a curt nod and closing the door ,returning to the bay where the titans were kept. Sitting on the top of his tone titan with its faded gray paint job, he would mutter himself about the war and the failure to uphold his duty. His titan would chime in with its female voice as the little eye on the top rotated to face its pilot blinking blue.

 _"No need to feel down pilot. Protocol's was followed even after my destruction. There is next time"_

Alden grumbled at his tone's monotone and simple professional rebuttal for his muttering. Why was he given one of the older AI models that only cared about protocols and the simple kill, protect, uphold mission mindset. Well he couldn't complain, he could have it worse with not being a pilot. Laying down on his back and arms behind his head,he felt himself doze off remembering the fun,happy times back home with his older sister running through the green,grass hills of their family farm and picking wildflowers. It was a such a simpler time, a time everyone wish they could go back to.


End file.
